OUR HISTORY

In 2006 Father Emmanuel Lyimo of the Sacred Heart Church in Mahida, Tanzania set up a committee to determine the extent and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic within his parish community - an area that covers eight villages. Sixteen parishioners - two per village - surveyed each village, and determined that approximately 700 children had been left orphaned due to the AIDS epidemic. Most of these children were living with relatives and doing well under these circumstances but others were living under difficult conditions in the homes of relatives, friends, or neighbors. Many adults in the community struggle to care for a sick family member and cannot devote the time, energy, or resources needed to properly assist the orphaned children.

Upon receiving this information, Father Emmanuel decided to establish a medical dispensary to care for these orphans as well as offer health education to the parish comunity in the hopes of preventing the spread of HIV.

Father Emmanuel needed funding for the construction of the dispensary and he sought the assistance of Sister Mary Wandia since then the founder of the religious order the Adorer Missionary Sisters of the Poor in Tanzania) who attended church at St. Johns the Evangelist Catholic Church in Columbia, Maryland. Mary approached the Columbia Council 7559 of Knights of Columbus which is affiliated with St. Johns and Mary approached the council on behalf of Fr. Emmanuel.

The Columbia Council performed an extensive background check into the orphanage project, which included contacting the Bishop of Moshi, Caritas Tanzania, and Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore, Maryland to confirm the validity of Father Emmanuel's request, after which they agreed to take up the task of raising money for the dispensary.

If you would like to make a donation to keep the dispensary running, help build a Catholic primary school which is currently under construction, or support an orphan consider making a contribution using PayPal.